エピソード
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In this episode Matt & Lauren recap some of the hottest topics and trends in the publishing industry from 2024, and make a few predictions for 2025.
Thanks for a great year of publishing and prospering with us!
Dive Deeper💡 Written Word Media | 2024 Indie Author Survey Results: Insights into Self Publishing for Authors
💡 Louis Grenier | $16k in 5 Days Book Launch Breakdown
💡 Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
💡 Bublish’s AI Author Toolkit
💡 Listen to These Episodes
Ep #18 | How Writers Can Harness the Power of AIEp #38 | From Manuscript to Market: 5+ Tools to Help You Draft, Publish, and Sell Your BookEp #43 | Make Your Self-Published Books Stand Out with Custom Details💡 Read These Blog Posts
Direct-to-Consumer BooksellingSudowrite ReviewSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [9:06] “I think that that also explains that huge jump we saw in stores being created and active this year versus last year, because I do really think that this year, more than ever, it connected for people and they've started sort of piecing this puzzle together.”
🎙️ [29:01] “And the truth of the matter is nobody has any idea what AI in publishing looks like for next year… But we do know, and I think it will always be true, that it can't replace human creativity, human emotion. It can't elicit responses like a human can with their writing. So use AI for what it's good at, for productivity. Use it for the tools, and making your life easier.”
🎙️ [47:21] “I think these business savvy creators and content entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs in general are going to be at the forefront of people saying like, we understand the value of selling direct. And if a traditional publisher isn't going to work with us on that, then that's okay. We'll just do it ourselves.”
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In this episode Lauren & Matt explore the journey to successful audience growth by finding your content niche, defining your ideal reader, and identifying your target audience. We also discuss the value of learning from other creators, ways to inject new life into your marketing efforts, and the correct way to pronounce niche, among other things.
Dive Deeper💡 Check Out SparkToro
💡 Read Written Word Media’s 2024 Indie Author Survey Results: Insights into Self Publishing for Authors
Ep #25 | Author Branding 101: Building a Brand Beyond Your BooksEp #35 | Designing the Right Go-to-Market Strategy for Your BookEp #47 | Metrics That Matter: A Guide for Authors & Creators
💡 Listen to These Episodes
Building Effective Reader Personas for Authors and CreatorsHow to Find Your T arget Audience
💡 Read These Blog Posts
Webinar | How to Create a Multi-Million-Dollar Business From Your Business Book with Joe Pulizzi
💡 Watch These VideosSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [10:07] “The start of that journey is understanding who your audience is, who you're creating content for, what is your niche topic or content area, and then understanding like, how do I create content for this audience, but more importantly, how do I market and sell it to this audience?”
🎙️ [23:01] “You should be doing this… I'm not going to say regularly, but the very least periodically. You should be updating your own understanding of who your readers are, who your audience is, who you're writing for, who you're writing to.”
🎙️ [39:14] “You have to understand that these things that you're doing, again, whether you want to agree to this or not, you're building a business. And so everything you do is a step towards sustainability long-term.”
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren tackle some of the most common misconceptions about self-publishing. We debunk myths like:
❌ You won’t make any money self-publishing
❌ You have to spend a lot of money to self-publish
❌ There’s no credibility in self-publishingAnd most importantly: fake M&Ms are just as good as real M&Ms.
Dive Deeper💡 Editorial Freelancers Association Editorial Rates Chart
💡 Listen to These Episodes
Ep #2 | Is Self-Publishing the Best Path for Today’s Creators? Ep #8 | Self-Publishing is a Team SportEp #20 | Do You Need to Hire Professional Editors for Your Book?Ep #25 | Author Branding 101: Building a Brand Beyond Your BooksEp #36 | The Indie Author’s Guide to Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
How Lulu Simplifies Self-Publishing6 Steps to Create and Print a Book for Beginners5 Visual Indicators Your Book Is Self-Published
💡 Read These Blog Posts
Lulu U | Start Here PlaylistThe Life of a Book
💡 Watch These VideosSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [4:29] “There's no guarantee you're going to make money one way or the other, it really boils down to effort. And that is also true across all of the publishing paths.”
🎙️ [25:37] “It's not a one size fits all thing in any way when it comes to how much you're going to spend on self-publishing. If you're operating under the assumption that you can only find success as a self-published author if you sink a lot of money into any part of it… that's just not true.”
🎙️ [36:32] “I think these days people want to be more in control of their content and their money and their life. And I think that they're able to do that through self-publishing and they feel better doing it because of the fact that tools have gotten better.”
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt discuss the New York Times Best Seller lists. Learn how the lists are decided, what disqualifies a book from being a potential NYT Best-Seller, and why self-published authors rarely make the cut.
Dive Deeper💡 The New York Times | About the Best Sellers
💡 Novlr | The New York Times Bestseller Lists Explained
💡 Wikipedia | The New York Times Best-Seller List
💡 Jane Friedman | Self-Published Bestseller Lists
Sound Bites From This Episode🎙️ [4:29] “What I mean when I say it doesn't matter is that you can still achieve incredible success as a self-published author without having your name on the New York Times best-seller list.”
🎙️ [12:15] “They were getting sued for not including a specific title on the list despite the sales. And the argument that they made was that it is not exclusively based on straight up math and sales numbers, but is more of an editorial product that is influenced by sales numbers, but also influenced by other things.”
🎙️ [34:35] “I'm going to make Matt's blood boil a little bit because I'm going to say that I think that for self-published authors… hitting the top of the Amazon charts is probably more important for your sales and discoverability than hit the New York Times list would be."
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren have a conversation about Taylor Swift’s upcoming book, talking through her decision to self-publish it, and what that says about the future of traditional publishing.
Disclaimer: This episode was Matt’s idea, not Lauren’s.
Dive Deeper💡 Target Press Release
💡 Related Episodes
Ep #2 | Is Self-Publishing the Best Path for Today's Creators?Ep #16 | The Indie Author's Guide to Thriving Without AmazonEp #36 | The Indie Author’s Guide to Self-Publishing vs. Traditional PublishingSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [14:36] “Time and time again, we see plenty of people who have built an audience for themselves, regardless of size, but it works for them. There's high engagement. They know their audience better than anybody else, and they are able to self-publish content and reach their audience and achieve whatever their primary goals are.”
🎙️ [16:20] “I think as… this idea of creating and owning your content and the distribution methods to get it to market continues to increase, I think traditional publishing's value continues to decrease.”
🎙️ [41:24] “At the end of the day I never thought I would find inspiration in something Taylor Swift did, but here we are.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt review the important metrics you need to be tracking to boost your book sales, grow your brand, and connect with a loyal audience. We take a look at social media, email, website, and customer data and share valuable tools and tips to help you make the most of the data you collect.
Dive Deeper💡 Check Out These Resources
Shopify | Ecommerce Analytics Tools for Online Store OwnersSparkToro | https://sparktoro.com/ ManyChat | https://manychat.com/creators
Unlock Your Content Business Potential With User DataTracking Your Marketing Efforts With UTM TagsComplete Tech Stack for Publishing
💡 Read These Blog Posts
Episode #11 | Email Marketing for Authors & CreatorsEpisode #12 | Social Media Marketing for Authors & CreatorsEpisode #22 | Using Customer Data to Grow Your BusinessEpisode #31 | Your 7-Step Guide to Building an Online Bookstore
💡 Listen to These EpisodesSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [10:38] “A lot of these metrics are interconnected, and that's kind of the whole point in tracking them and in paying attention to them. And I know that's going to sound really overwhelming as we rattle off a bunch of different types of metrics that you should be looking at, but they really do inform each other in a lot of different ways.”
🎙️ [24:03] “If you're sending an email out once a week or once every two weeks or whatever, and you're asking people to buy your book and you're sending them to Amazon, you're not going to have the data as to whether or not they bought a book from that email.”
🎙️ [35:55] “All roads should lead to however you get somebody to purchase a book, wherever they do that. And primarily that should be on your website.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren share tips for maximizing your return on investment when you attend a conference. We have our top picks for note-taking, strategies for putting your ideas into action, and using your conference experience to establish yourself as a thought leader.
Dive Deeper💡 Otter.AI
💡 Ecamm Live
💡 Ann Handley’s Total Annarchy Newsletter
💡 Listen to These Episodes
Episode #23 | How to Survive (and Thrive) at Conferences and EventsEpisode #29 | 3 Steps to Prep for an Author Event (and What to Do When You’re There)💡 Read These Blog Posts
How to Grow Your Author NetworkWhy Creator Events Are a Must for Creators & Entrepreneurs💡 Watch These Videos
An Author’s Guide to Attending Live EventsSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [7:03] “You really should try to take down some sort of notes any way that you can. And we're going to talk about some ways to make it a lot easier for you to do that, especially if you're like me, where you're just terrible at it so you don't even bother. And you hope that all of the main points that are valuable will stick in your brain until you get home and they usually don't.” “How does that work out for you?” “It doesn't at all.”
🎙️ [17:02] “The most important part about these events is again, how you turn that into actionable takeaways that are going to further your business, your brand, your career, whatever it is you're trying to influence there.”
🎙️ [35:12] “Whatever it is, this is an opportunity for you to share something with your audience that further establishes you as somebody who knows what they're talking about.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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It’s officially been one year of Publish & Prosper! Join Lauren & Matt for a special Ask Us Anything episode, where we take listener questions about publishing, marketing, Lulu products, and - of course - Disney.
We answer questions like:
Do you start building your audience first and then write your book, or do you start writing your book first and then build your audience? What trends have you seen from Lulu creators over the years in how they've adapted their businesses to sell more books?When you mentioned releasing the right format in regards to the right go-to-market strategy, what do you mean?
Dive Deeper💡 Read These Blog Posts
10 Ways Modern Authors Can Build an AudienceHow to Find Your Target Audience
The Confetti VideoThe Life of a BookPlaylist | Audience Building
💡 Watch These Videos
Episode #11 | Email Marketing for Authors & CreatorsEpisode #35 | Designing the Right Go-to-Market Strategy for Your Book
💡 Listen to These Episodes💡Katie Cross Books
Sound Bites From This Episode
🎙️[6:31] “I think a lot of people get wrapped up in this idea that it's too late, that even if I start working on my audience now I'm late to the game, so it's gonna take forever to build an audience. Or if I start writing a book now after I've waited all these years, it's too late… None of that is true. Do it now. Get started.”
🎙️[16:39] “It really comes down to people realizing and understanding that this is a long-term endeavor and not short-term flash in the pan kind of thing. Something trendy like social media, we've all seen the rise and fall of different social platforms so much in the last few years, and people are realizing more and more we need a long-term way to connect with our audience and to create these relationships that are going to last with our audience.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren review the best ways to repurpose content for social media. They talk through reusing your existing social content, reposting other people’s social content, and repurposing your book material as social content.
Jump in to hear about Matt’s recent appearance at Momentum and upcoming plans for Author Nation - or skip ahead to 13:50 to get right to the social media content strategies.
Dive Deeper💡 Listen to These Episodes
Episode #12 | Social Media Marketing for Authors & CreatorsEpisode #25 | Author Branding 101: Building a Brand Beyond Your BooksEpisode #33 | Books You Can Create Using Your Existing Content💡 Read These Blog Posts
Social Media Content Ideas for AuthorsSocial Media 101 for Authors
Lulu U | How to Use Social Media to Grow Your Author BrandWebinar | Before Social Media: The Marketing Elements You Need Before You Post with Annie Schiffmann
💡 Watch These Videos
HootSuite | Create Engaging and Effective Social Media ContentSocial Media Examiner | Social Content Repurposing: An Easy System for Creating Great ContentThe Social Shift by Katie BrinkleyManyChat for Instagram
💡 Check out These ResourcesSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [27:07] “You never know where the content like this that you share and create is going to wind up… If you have this little like, bite-sized content that ties back to your book you don't know where it's going to go and it could serve as a lead magnet.”
🎙️ [33:05] “The riches are in the niches. So niche down as far as you can go to where you add maximum value and that's where you will see maximum engagement and revenue intake. And then if you want to scale up from there, you can.”
🎙️ [43:10] “Virality is not stability. Like, don't chase virality because you don't know how you're going to get it. And if you do happen to get lucky enough to have a viral post, you'll probably never get it again. You'll never know how or why you got it.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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Custom and special edition books are more popular than ever - and more accessible than ever. In this episode, Lauren & Matt explore how indie authors can create custom editions of their self-published books. We look at popular customizations like sprayed edges, embellished covers, specialty bindings, and more!
Love watching your podcasts? Publish & Prosper is now on video! Check us out on YouTube.
Join us at Author Nation, November 11 - 15 at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada!
Dive Deeper💡 Read How to Convince Readers to Buy Books Directly From You on the Lulu Blog
💡 Listen to These Episodes
Episode #19 → Crowdfunding Your Self-Published Book With KickstarterEpisode #24 → How to Turn Casual Fans into Super FansEpisode #29 → 3 Steps to Prep for an Author Event (and What to Do When You’re There)💡 Learn more about Kingdom Covers for printed edge designs.
Sound Bites From This Episode🎙️[8:39] “I think what you find is in the indie publishing world with self publishing, more often than not, it's not necessarily a sales tactic, but it's somebody saying, hey, I've put my heart and soul to this book. I also want it to look really cool. I want to create the best book that I can.”
🎙️ [19:58] “When you're creating books to sell to fans, followers, whoever, whether it's fiction or nonfiction, just remember that not everybody reads, writes, collects, distributes the same way that you do. Never really limit yourself just based on the fact that you might not want a really cool sprayed edge on your book.”
🎙️ [32:29] “If you're selling direct already or you're thinking about it, here's a great way to try it or start. To get people to buy direct from you, sometimes they need a little extra incentive… do a completely different cover and have it only be available if they buy that book from you directly off your site.”
“I would argue all of these that we're saying, you should be doing, this should be a motivation for people to buy them directly from you.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren help you maximize your book’s potential with early readers like beta readers, sensitivity readers, and industry reviewers. We take a look at how and when to engage with them, how they can help your book, and what to offer them in return.
Love watching your podcasts? Publish & Prosper is now on video! Check us out on YouTube.
Join us at Author Nation, November 11 - 15 at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada!
Dive Deeper💡 Check These Resources
The Editorial Freelancers Association Member Directory Lulu’s Partners PageJane Friedman on Are Paid Book Reviews Worth It? Blog | 7 Online Writing Communities for AuthorsWebinar | PR for Authors: Building Buzz Around Your Book💡 Listen to These Episodes
Episode #13 | Earning Free Promotion for Your BookEpisode #26 | Do Book Reviews Help You Sell More Books? Episode #30 | Finding Your Place in Author & Reader CommunitiesSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [21:12] “I think out of everything in this episode, we've probably referenced [beta readers] the most in the past. They are a great way to connect with other people in your industry, with other authors, with other peers in your specific genre that you're working on. It's a great way to create those relationships with people. And a great reason to definitely do that."
🎙️ [31:45] “A good editor… will point those things out to you, but it's not their job to make sure that you've done your due diligence. It's always on the author.”
🎙️ [38:19] “Most people that you ask for promotional reviews, testimonials, whatever, they will not provide a negative one. So you'll either get a positive one or you won't get one. If they don't have anything good to say about your book, they're just not going to talk about it.”
🎙️ [46:39] “The point is: connect with people. Share your book with readers before your actual readers get their hands on it. You don't have to reach out to all of the people that we've talked about in this episode. But none of them are going to hurt your content. They can only help. So why not?”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt explore creative ways to boost book sales! Learn how limited editions, bundles, personalized products, and more can incentivize new and returning shoppers to buy directly from you - without resorting to discounts.
Love watching your podcasts? Publish & Prosper is now on video! Check us out on YouTube.
Join us at Author Nation, November 11 - 15 at the Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada!
Dive Deeper
What Are Product Variants & Why Do Authors Need Them?How to Turn Casual Followers into Dedicated Super FansBookshop.org: Your Local, Online Bookseller
💡 Read These Blog Posts
The Author’s Guide to Subscriptions
💡 Watch These Videos
Episode #24 | How to Turn Your Casual Fans into Super FansEpisode #30 | Finding Your Place in Author & Reader CommunitiesEpisode #35 | Designing the Right Go-to-Market Strategy for Your Book
💡 Listen to Related EpisodesSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [6:30] “I don't think you ever want to put yourself in a situation where that's the only way you're selling books is by discounting. If you get in that habit and people come to expect that from you, then that's the only time they're going to purchase, is when you're offering a discount. And you never want to be in that race to the bottom.”
🎙️ [26:42] “And it doesn't matter. Like, if you're a bookseller and writer or a musician or anybody else, if you've got fans, if you've got customers who have bought things from you, you need to acknowledge that is now a relationship that you can continue to foster.”
🎙️ [43:33] “That's a huge motivator for getting people to spend money with you is making them feel good in the process.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Matt & Lauren tackle the upcoming holiday season. They’ll discuss best practices for getting your books ready, optimizing your site or bookstore, speaking to gift givers instead of your target audience, and reviewing your social media for book promo opportunities.
Dive Deeper💡 Check These Resources
Make Books Make Bank PDF DownloadMcKinsey on US Holiday Shopping 2023Forbes on 6 Trends From The 2023 Holiday Season That Can Shape 2024💡 Read These Blog Posts
Sell More Books With A Holiday Social Media StrategyDiscounting Best Practices and Biggest BlundersBlack Friday & Cyber Monday Holiday Sales Planning9-Point Book Sales Checklist For Holiday5 Ways To Get Your Lulu Direct Shopify Store Ready For The Holidays💡 Watch These Videos
Webinar | Make Books, Make Bank: Your Guide To Holiday SuccessWebinar | Boost Fall Book Sales With A Stellar Marketing Plan💡 Listen to These Episodes
Episode #31 | Your 7-Step Guide to Building an Online Bookstore Episode #11 | Email Marketing for Authors and CreatorsEpisode #13 | Earning Free Publicity for Your Book💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt tackle some common pain points entrepreneurs and ecommerce store owners struggle with. We’ll talk through solutions and tips for collecting sales tax, setting up shipping and managing shipping issues, and providing proactive customer service for your shoppers.
Dive Deeper💡 Sales Tax
Lulu Knowledge Base | How Do I Configure My Lulu Direct Products to Collect the Correct Taxes?Spotify | How to Charge Sales Tax in the USWooCommerce | Setting up Taxes in WooCommerceEconomic Nexus Threshold MapTaxJarAvalara
Lulu’s Pricing CalculatorGetting Your Ship Together in Lulu Direct (Shopify and WooCommerce)International Book Shipping: A Guide for Self-Published CreatorsLulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Live Shipping Rates in ShopifyLulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Shipping Rates Manually in ShopifyLulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Shipping with Lulu Direct and WooCommerceLulu U Tutorial | Setting Up Shipping in Wix
💡 Shipping
Customer Service and Your Ecommerce BusinessThe Life of A Book
💡 Customer Support
Jump Ahead to Learn About🎙️ Understanding Sales Tax → 4:46
🎙️ All Things Shipping (Ship Mapping, Expenses, and Troubleshooting) → 16:51
🎙️ Proactive Customer Service Strategies → 28:43
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
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Self-publishing might be a DIY publishing model, but there are plenty of tools and resources to help you get your book from manuscript to market. In this episode, Matt & Lauren discuss a debatable number of tools to help you draft, edit, format, design, market, and ship your book.
Dive Deeper💡 Learn More About
FictionaryVellumAtticusBublishLulu’s Order Import ToolWritten Word MediaBookFunnel
Vellum Review: Simple Page Layout for Self-PublishersAtticus Review: The All-in-One Writing and Formatting Tool for Indie AuthorsDropshipping for Entrepreneurs & Creators With Lulu’s Order Import Tool
💡 Read These Blog Posts
Webinar with Fictionary | Editing Essentials: Edit Like a Developmental Story EditorWebinar with Bublish | Boost Fall Book Sales With A Stellar Marketing Plan
💡 Watch These VideosJump Ahead to Learn About
🎙️ Fictionary → 1:52
🎙️ Atticus & Vellum → 7:41
🎙️ Lulu’s Cover Design Tool → 15:53
🎙️ Bublish’s AI Author Toolkit → 22:23
🎙️ Lulu’s Order Import Tool → 27:58
🎙️ Written Word Media and BookFunnel → 37:19💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt review strategies for getting your self-published book into indie bookstores, including participating in consignment programs, pitching yourself for author events, and making your book available through retail distribution.
Dive Deeper💡 Read These Blog Posts
Selling Your Book on Consignment With Indie Bookstores5 Visual Indicators Your Book Is Self-Published💡 Watch How to Get Your Book into Bookstores
💡 Check your book’s global distribution eligibility with our Pricing Calculator
Sound Bites From This Episode🎙️ [15:44] “These bookstores have a standard to uphold. Which is not to say that every traditionally published book and every book available in an indie bookstore or any bookstore is a good book. We all know that's not true. But at the very least, they want people to be able to look at your book and think it's a good book.”
🎙️ [25:34] “You're not just an author or creator, we've said this a thousand times. You're a business, and as such you need to be building trust and relationships with people.”
🎙️ [32:49] “It's important to understand that your book can be available to be bought from an indie bookstore or a bookstore in general if you are in distribution, it just won't be sitting on the shelves as ready inventory.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Matt and Lauren take listeners on a journey through self-publishing and traditional publishing. We’ll look at where those paths overlap, where they diverge, and what to expect on your publishing adventure.
Dive Deeper💡 Jane Friedman’s The Key Book Publishing Paths
💡 Listen to These Episodes:
Episode #2 → Is Self-Publishing the Best Path for Today's Creators?Episode #8 → Self-Publishing is a Team SportEpisode #20 → Do You Need to Hire Professional Editors for Your Book? Episode #10 → Marketing Your Book Pre-Launch, At-Launch, and Post-Launch💡 Read These Blog Posts
The Publishing Journey: Traditional Publishing vs. Self-PublishingUnderstanding The Publishing Gatekeepers💡 Watch These Videos
Which Publishing Path is Right for You? | Publish Your Purpose Press x Lulu WebinarSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [10:17] “It used to be that if you said your book was self-published, or if people knew your book was self-published, they were just like, oh, that's got to be garbage. They did it themselves. It can't be a good book. These days, obviously nothing's further from the truth than that statement.”
🎙️ [23:10] “But the point is you don't have any control over that in traditional publishing, and in self-publishing you have total control over that.”
🎙️ [45:14] “All of this is only relevant in so much as what your goals are for the book itself.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt dive into what makes a successful go-to-market strategy for your book. Learn how to pick the right launch date and products, choose the best sales and distribution platforms, and craft effective pre-launch and post-launch sales strategies.
Have a question about self-publishing, selling direct, Lulu, or any of the weird tangents Matt & Lauren like to meander through? Email us at [email protected] to submit your question for our upcoming AMA episode!
Dive Deeper💡 Listen to These Episodes to Learn More About…
Marketing Your Book Pre-Launch, At-Launch, and Post-LaunchDetermining the Right Retail Price for Your BookThe Indie Author's Guide to Thriving Without AmazonYour 7-Step Guide to Building an Online Bookstore4 Reasons Creators Don't Sell Direct (and Why You Should)Crowdfunding Your Self-Published Book With Kickstarter5 Things to Know Before You Start PublishingSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [12:35] “Don't get too married to all this stuff in the beginning. When you're able to step back from this go-to-market plan and really take a look at it holistically, you might see some areas where you need to go back in and change a few things so that everything kind of works seamlessly and harmoniously together.”
🎙️ [29:04] “Having that sales and distribution and strategy laid out and understanding where and when each format and variation of that book is going to be released and sold is really important. And it'll extend the sales lifecycle of that book as long as possible.”
🎙️ [42:01] “Regardless of whether or not you're selling direct, no matter which sales and distribution platforms you're going to move forward with: customer data is invaluable. Whatever kind of customer data you have access to from these different sales and distribution channels, you're going to want some way to track it.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
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In this episode, Lauren attempts to convince Matt (and the listeners) of the power of a well-written book description. Listen in to learn how to craft a compelling book description that will help you hook new readers.
Have a question about self-publishing, selling direct, Lulu, or any of the weird tangents Matt & Lauren like to meander through? Email us at [email protected] to submit your question for our upcoming AMA episode!
Dive Deeper💡 Listen to Episode #13 | Earning Free Publicity for Your Book
💡 Read These Blog Posts
How to Write a Book Description That SellsHow to Earn Media Attention: Essential PR Tips for Authors💡 Watch These Videos
Lulu U | How to Write a Book Description That SellsWebinar | PR for Authors: Building Buzz Around Your Book💡 Check Out the Books
Masters of Death by Olivie BlakeMy Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady HendrixSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [11:14] “To Matt's point that you could use ChatGPT to write your book description for you if you want to. I'm going to say that you could, but you still need to know what to tell ChatGPT to use to write the book description.”
🎙️ [24:12] “It's a really succinct way to tell me who the book is for, what they're going to get out of it, and what goals you're going to achieve by doing it or by reading it, but without actually giving any of the information away. So I have to keep reading to learn more about what I'm actually going to get out of this book.”
🎙️ [34:15] “If people are like at a bookstore where you're not there, or online, they're browsing and they see your book the thing that's gonna catch their eye first is the cover. Your elevator pitch is what you're gonna do when you're talking to somebody in person.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
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In this episode, Lauren & Matt share ideas for repurposing your existing content. Hint: it's by turning that content into a book. We share ideas for both nonfiction and fiction book projects, including options that require little to no new writing.
Have a question about self-publishing, selling direct, Lulu, or any of the weird tangents Matt & Lauren like to meander through? Email us at [email protected] to submit your question for our upcoming AMA episode!
Dive Deeper💡 Read These Blog Posts
6 Ways To Publish a Book Without Writing a BookFrom Blog To Book: How To Turn Your Content Into a Published BookHow To Turn Your Video Content Into a BookHow To Reach a New Audience With a Book Based on Your PodcastHow To Create a Workbook: Tips To Enhance Your Online CourseWhat Is Fanfiction and Why Does It Matter?💡 Watch These Videos
What Should I Publish? 10 Ideas Using Content You Already HaveLulu University playlist on Content MonetizationSound Bites From This Episode
🎙️ [3:51] “One of the best ways to identify what aspect or which topic of your content would necessarily lend itself best to a book, or a book project, would be to just go back and look at your metrics, right? Figure out which of your blog posts or podcasts or YouTube videos or whatever got the most views and the most engagement.”
🎙️ [14:58] “Presentations can be very one-sided where it's literally just the speaker speaking at an audience of people… this is a great way to turn that one time event attendee into somebody who's going to continue to come back to you, continue to participate in the conversation and continue to think of you when they're thinking about the subject matter that you were presenting on."
🎙️ [25:55] “If you are a digital first fiction author and you're publishing your ebooks, whether it's on Kindle Unlimited, you're doing serial fiction on something like Kindle Vella, BookFunnel, whatever platform that you're using, why are you not selling print editions of your books? If you are, great, love you for it. If you're not, please do.”
💀 Can’t wait for our next episode? Check out our Resources page for links to our blog,
our YouTube channel, and more.
💀 Find us on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn at luludotcom!
💀 Email us at [email protected]
💀 Sign up for our mailing list. - もっと表示する
